Vancouver holds paper plane competition

Vancouver International Airport has held its first paper plane competition Friday.

The event aims to let people know more about airport facilities.

Lifestyles has more

STANDUP: AL CAMPBELL, CNC correspondent
"Take off. That is the message of Vancouver International Airport as on Friday the facility held its first ever paper plane workshop and competition. The event was part of an ongoing promotion called YVR Take Off Fridays that is being held throughout the summer to get more people to come out and use the airport facilities whether they are taking a flight or not."

With the offer of a free night's stay in a luxury hotel at the airport, the paper airplane workshop attracted more than 50 participants.

Ralph Heldt, an instructor with the British Columbia Institute of Technology’s aerospace program, teaches the young participants about finer points of flight.

She points out that while the exercise may seem like children's game, the practice actually provides a valuable lesson in aerodynamics.

SOUNDBITE(ENGLISH)RALPH HELDT, British Columbia Inst. of Technology:
"A paper airplane flies the same way a real airplane flies. It’s all provided, the lift is provided, on the wings of a paper airplane pretty much the same as a regular airplane. And when you make a paper airplane the wings are actually a little bit round so that when the air flows over the top it will provide the lift to the aircraft to keep it up in the air as long as possible."

As part of the Take Off Fridays, the paper airplane workshop offers free entertainment in the airport's terminals every friday during the summer.

Christopher Gilliland (GILL-E-LAND) of the Vancouver Airport Authority said the promotion has been excellent in raising awareness of airport facilities and on some Fridays, up to 20 percent of the people visiting the facilities are non-travelers.

SOUNDBITE(ENGLISH) CHRISTOPHER GILLILAND,Vancouver Airport Authority
"When we started this up people thought we were kind of crazy that people would want to come to the airport even if they weren’t traveling, but we’ve been overwhelmingly successful and really surprised just how well the community’s embraced the airport, just coming out here and having a good time even when you’re not travelling."

Things were getting serious at the paper airplane competition when 15 participants lined up to fly their creations down the makeshift runway.

Frank Lam, a Hong Kong immigrant, also the oldest competitor in the field, won the grand prize.

SOUNDBITE(ENGLISH) FRANK LAM, Paper Airplane Champion
"I thought I break the rule because it should be folded with the whole paper, but I did it with half of it and saved some paper.”

The young competitors also showed their great enthusiasm during this game.

SOUNDBITE(ENGLISH)LEX, Paper airplane enthusiast
"I’m not very good at making them, but I’m good at drawing them. My mom’s the one that’s good at making them."

SOUNDBITE(ENGLISH)ELENA,Paper airplane enthusiast
"I could have done better, but I still liked it."